


Stranger Thoughts

by christalhearsawho



Series: Stranger Things Have Happened [1]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: F/M, Supernatural Elements, Teen Angst, Teen Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-19
Updated: 2019-01-25
Packaged: 2019-07-14 10:18:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,678
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16038440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/christalhearsawho/pseuds/christalhearsawho
Summary: I just really love this show and wanted to immerse myself in it. Slow burn with lots of angst.





	1. Chapter 1

Eyes Without a Face…

 

Catherine Henderson sighed, looping the phone cord around her index finger. 

“But doesn’t that make it negative?”

“No, because it cancels out again.”

“Nancy, can you just come over and show me?”

“No, Mike’s got the boys over, remember? I can’t leave.”

Cathy sighed heartily. “Right. That’s why it’s so quiet over here-Dusty isn’t squawking on his CB. I’ll let you go then. Thanks for the help. ”

“No problem! See you tomorrow. Bye.” 

Catherine heard the rustle and clank of Nancy hanging up, and fell back on to her bed, launching her Algebra textbook off of the mattress like a springboard. She heard Mews pawing at the door, begging for a place to hide from the constant petting of Mrs. Henderson. She got up, letting the poor cat in, not bothering to pick up her textbook. Her Algebra homework was a problem for another day, when she could do it with Jonathan or Nancy in person. Mews hopped up on the bed, and Cathy joined her a healthy distance away so she wouldn’t get clawed. It was only eight o’clock, but Catherine felt her eyelids droop, unable to resist that night’s sleep and eventually, the nightmares that always came with it.

 

Steve pulled into the lot carefully, eyeing the ‘79 Camaro parked across two spots.

“What a dick,” Steve muttered, audibly enough for Catherine to hear from the spot over. 

“Oh, don’t pretend you weren’t as bad last year,” Cathy yelled with a smirk through his open window. Steve’s face flashed with hurt, and before she could apologize, Nancy had already struck up  a new topic with him. Cathy sighed. Everything she said to him came out wrong, and since last fall they had been spending more time together, which gave her even more time to ruin everything. She unbuckled her seatbelt violently and got out of the car, running straight into Jonathan.

“Oh, hey. Sorry.” he said, eyes ever watching Nancy.

“It’s okay.” She motioned for him to follow, knowing they would both only become more heartbroken around the couple a car away.

_ BANG. _

“Jesus! What was that?”

“Billy and his car door.” Catherine sighed. Hargrove marched past them, tight denim squeezing every inch of him. Cathy snuck a glance at his ass, but quickly averted her eyes just in case Steve was watching her. He wasn’t. They swept into the highly air conditioned building, met with orange flyers reading “Tina’s Halloween Bash! Come and get Sheet Faced! On Oak and First”. Catherine suppressed a snort, but grabbed one for her and Jonathan anyways. It would do her some good to have fun. 

“You want  _ me  _ to go to that?” Jonathan protested as she shoved one into his hands.

“I bet Nancy will be there.” she said softly. “Plus you can’t expect me to go alone.” He rolled his eyes in clear resignation. 

“Good! I’ll see you in Chemistry!” she bounced to her locker, leaving Jonathan standing in the crowd, staring at the neon sheet of paper. 

 

Cathy’s lab partner, Patrick, decided to go ahead and do absolutely no work as usual. Jonathan and her made eye contact across the room.

“What’s your costume for the party?” she mouthed.

He looked at her quizzically.

“Your  _ costume _ ?”

He shrugged, cleary not sure what Catherine was saying.   
“The party tonight? What are you wea-”

“-derson and Byers. Detention tomorrow after school. Please pay attention.” Jonathan turned back around, mouthing an apology to her. “-re so disrespectful. Now back to electron configurations.”

Thirty minutes later, Cathy hurriedly left the room in order to avoid any more punishment from Mrs. Moore, running straight into Steve, causing him to drop his calculator, which clattered all the way across the hallway.

“Steve! I’m so sorry!” She ran to grab it before Patrick trampled it on the way to his locker.

“Catherine! Yeah, it’s no big deal.” She handed him back the calculator and watched awkwardly as he ran a hand through his hair. 

“Hey, earlier when I said you were like Billy-I didn’t-I didn’t mean that.” Cathy stuttered.

He shrugged lightly.

“No, really. You’re not a dick. I’m so glad we’re friends this year. I think you’re really awe-”

They were interrupted by a soft voice. “What were you asking me in class?”

Cathy whipped around. “Jonathan! Oh, just what you were going to go to Tina’s party as. I suggest Magnum, P.I.” she cooed.

“Absolutely not. More like ‘a guy who doesn’t dress up for Halloween’.”

“Lame! I might go as Leia or Rizzo. I’m not entirely sure yet...What about you, Steve?”

Cathy turned back around, expectant, but Steve had already stalked down the halls.

Jonathan glanced down, embarrassed. 

“Sorry again. I keep talking to you at the wrong time.”

“Yeah, whatever. I don’t think he cares anyways. It’s pointless.”

Jonathan was silent in response, not sure to console her or mope with her-he liked Nancy just as much as she yearned for  _ anything _ with Steve. 

“Well,” Jonathan muttered. “I’ll pick you up tonight. Your costume has to make up for the lack of mine.”


	2. Every Breath You Take

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Halloween party!

Every Breath You Take…

 

Cathy looked over at Jonathan for reassurance. 

“Dude, you look great. You’re like, glowing in the dark.” Catherine shifted her tulle skirt. She had decided on the most basic costume-Madonna. It was a safe choice. She smiled wide at him, throwing up Thriller hands, snapping out of her shyness. “Come on, nerd, there’s beer to be drunk!” Jonathan flashed a crooked smile, climbing out of his Ford LTD. Cathy bounced ahead of him following the chants resonating from the house.

“Billy! Billy! Billy!”

Of course Hawkins’ new hottie was a keg king. As Catherine entered, she got an eyeful of Billy’s shirtless torso glistening with sweat and before she could move past him, he shot her a quick wink. She could feel her cheeks redden as she averted her eyes, pushing her way into the living room. 

“Catherine!” Steve’s familiar voice stirred something within her gut. “Nice costume! Very original,” he teased. As Cathy approached, she saw Nancy was next to him; they were dressed as Joel and Lana from Risky Business, Steve’s costume complete with a pair of Ray-Bans. 

“Yours is  _ actually  _ original, Harrington. Very nice.”

“Thanks, it was all Nancy’s idea, though.”

Catherine’s throat tightened as she glanced at Nancy. She hated the feeling of envy for her friend that now curled in her gut, seething quietly. 

“Well, you look great. The glasses complete the look.”

Steve lowered his glasses down to the bridge of his nose, winking exaggeratedly as he bobbed his head in quite the adorable fashion, Cathy thought. 

As he was distracted by Nancy, Catherine went into the kitchen, looking for something to drink. She wasn’t big into alcohol, but definitely had one or two drinks to calm her nerves, which was just what tonight called for. She tilted her cup against the spout of the keg, filling it about two-thirds full. 

“You’re not gonna get drunk off of that, doll.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Cathy saw a tight, sweaty torso that belonged to the one and only Billy Hargrove. Her cheeks flushed red.

“I’m just starting off easy. I want to remember tonight, not float through it piss drunk.”

“Well, I for one, never pass up an opportunity to get piss drunk.” With that, he took the cup from her hands and drained it for her, beer trickling down the left corner of his mouth, hanging ever so anxiously on his jawline. Cathy averted her eyes, heading toward the punchbowl to get a new cup and a stronger drink.

“That’s more like it,” she heard his voice rumble before he returned to a welcoming crowd. Before Cathy could grab a cup, Nancy came bounding to the punchbowl, Steve following after her.

“No, no,” Steve muttered discreetly. “No. You’ve had enough, okay?”

“Screw you!” Nancy slurred, plunging a cracked red cup into the bowl, soaking her hand. Steve gently tried to guide her away, and Cathy took a step back, confused at Nancy’s protests.

“Steve, stop!” Nancy’s grip rebounded, splashing red punch all over her white Lana sweater. Everyone turned in their direction, and Catherine averted her eyes, embarrassed to be watching them, embarrassed to be in everyone’s field of view. The chattering died as “Girls on Film” played to an audience of zero. Nancy swayed, striding toward the bathroom, deaf to Steve’s quiet protest, “Nance…”. Cathy solemnly watched him follow her into the hall. 

She looked around dumbly for Jonathan, but he was nowhere to be seen. She neglected the act of grabbing anything to drink, not wanting to stay in the kitchen any longer, instead finding a stained armchair to sit in. From here, she could see the hallway that ran into the bathroom, and although it hurt her to admit it, she hoped this would be a turning point in their relationship. She and Jonathan would finally have a shot. 

She mentally kicked herself. She was so damn selfish, wishing bad upon friends who had helped her through so much. Taking a deep breath, she ran her gloved fingers through her hairsprayed hair, tugging at the decorative bow. She felt stupid and silly, participating in such a dumb holiday all by herself. Cathy just wanted to go home and curl up, maybe get some Algebra homework done. 

_ SLAM.  _

Her neck jolted up at the sound of a slammed door coming from the hallway.  _ Steve. _ She stood up cautiously, peering around an Elvira and a Peter Vinkman. He made a beeline past the stairs, nearly knocking over Jonathan. 

“Johnathan!” Cathy called out.

“Cathy! What’s up? Steve just-” he gestured over his shoulder. “Where’s Nance?”

“The bathroom. I would go check on her. She’s not doing too hot. You might want to just take her home; I'll get a ride.”

He nodded quickly, steeling himself for the difficult conversation to come. 

Catherine breathed in deeply, getting a whiff of body odor and beer. She tentatively headed out the front door, looking for the former king of Hawkins High. 

 


End file.
